Do line cooks need food handler training in Illinois?

Yes. Illinois requires restaurant food handlers to complete accredited food handler training within 30 days of being hired and to repeat it every 3 years. Every restaurant must also be supervised by a certified food service sanitation manager. List your training and its year at the top of your resume.

What Illinois requires

Restaurant food handlers, other than certified managers, must complete ANSI-accredited food handler training within 30 days of hire. Source
The training must be repeated every 3 years. Source
Every food service establishment must be under the operational supervision of a certified food service sanitation manager. The certificate lasts 5 years. Source

How to list it on your resume

Put these lines under a Certifications and licenses heading near the top, with dates. The employer looks for them first.

Before

Food safety

After

Illinois Food Handler Training, ANSI accredited (completed 2025)

Before

Manager certificate

After

Illinois Food Service Sanitation Manager Certification (expires 2030)

Check your line cook resume for Illinois

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Common questions

Who counts as a restaurant in Illinois?

For this rule, a business where at least 51% of sales are ready-to-eat food. Food handlers at other businesses, such as grocery delis, need approved training too.

How often do Illinois cooks retake food handler training?

Every 3 years for restaurant workers. Write the completion year on your resume so employers can tell when it is due.

Does a manager certificate replace the food handler training?

Yes. Certified food service sanitation managers are exempt from the food handler rule.

Pay for line cooks in Illinois

See the Illinois minimum wage and work out your take-home pay with the Illinois paycheck calculator.

The full line cook checklist

The rules above are only for Illinois. For everything else a line cook resume needs, with a full example, see the line cook resume checklist.

Sources

Last updated November 15, 2026. Rules change, so check the source before you rely on it.

Illinois Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, 410 ILCS 625/3.06 (checked November 15, 2026) Last amended by Public Act 104-480, effective July 1, 2026.
Illinois Food Handling Regulation Enforcement Act, 410 ILCS 625/3 (checked November 15, 2026) Last amended effective August 19, 2018.